Vehicle-wheel.



H. O. JACKSON.

- VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIOATION IIVLED JUNE 8, 1908.

Patented May 4, 1909' I UNITED STACEBZS HENRY O. JACKSON, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS,

PATENT OFFICE. I

ASSIGNOB TO JACKSON WHEEL COMPANY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA TERRITORY.

No. QBOAGS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, HENRY O. JACKSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cool; and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Wheels, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My object is to provide a novel construction of vehicle-wheel of thetype employing springs for supporting; the rim on the hub, which will becapable, in its use on a vehicle, of absorbing vibrations produced intraveling over rough roads; and in its use in connection withmotor-vehicles will serve to relieve strain on the engine in startingand stopping the vehicle.

11y invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is aviewin side elevation of a Wheel constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken at the line 2 on Fig. 1 andviewed in the direction of the arrow; and Fig. 3, a section taken at the.line 3 on Fig. and *iewed in the direction of the arrow.

The rim of the wheel which is represented at i is formed of twocompanion sections 5, each of which is constructed, as illustrated, toform tii'e-ilaiige 6, a tire-seat 7, and an inwardly extending web 8,thesewebs fitting fiatwise together and forming a rim-flange, and insuch condition being held together in a manner hereinafter described.

The hub 9 of the wheel is formed with a circumferential flange 10,beyond which the cone-bearings 11 of the wheel extend. The rim is heldto the hub by a series of radially secured to the hub and rim by thefollowing construction. Clips 13, each having" a bifurcated end-portion1 1 and a radiallj,*-cX- tending threaded shanl; 15, straddle the flange10 near its peripl'ieral edge, at equal intervals apart, and in th'position are pivoted to the flange 10 as by the bolts 16, these shankshaving circular heads 17 screwed upon them to which the inner ends ofthe coiled springs 1.2 are fastened as hereinafter described, jam-nuts17 also screwing upon these shanks for holding; the heads 17 in adjustedposition. The outer ends of the springs 12 carry heads 18, like theheads 17, excepting that the former instead of containing screw-threadedopenings are provided with smooth bores 19 which communi- Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed June 8,

disposed coiled springs 12, each of which is VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Patented May 4, 1909.

1908. Serial No. 437,260.

cate with sockets 20 on their inner faces. The heads 18 are journaled onthe headed shanks 21 of clips 22 which are preferably bifurcated attheir outer ends to afford legs 23 which embrace the flange 8 and towhich latter they are secured as by the rivets 24. It is desired thatthe springs 12 be formed with the tightly wound end-portions 12 and thatpreliminary to their installation in the .wheel they be assembled withthe heads 17 and 18 by screwing the latter, which are provided on theirperipheries with concave threads 25, into the ends of the springs, theheads being slightly tapered at their inner ends, as shown, to permitthem to be readily screwed into the end-portions 12 which, when theheads are in place, bear with pressure against them and thus bind theheads in position. The hub 9 also carries at both sides of its flange 10a circular series of closely- '5 abutting plates 26 fastened to the hubas by the bolts 26, each of which plates has extending radially from ita bar 27 recessed on its inner surface near its free end, as representedat 28. The bars 27, which are so ar ei ranged as to oppose each other,as represented, in which position they are held together by bolts 29passing transversely throu h them, fit flatwise against each other andembrace at their outer ends the rimflange 8 with which they have bearingconnection through the medium of balls 30 carried on the inner surfacesof the recessed ends of the rods 27. The opposed abutting surfaces ofeach pair of rods are preferably tongued and grooved, as re resented at81 in Fig. 3, to maintain the c .inement of the rods of each set whenthe wheel is in use.

The springs 12 are preferably assembled with the other parts of thewheel under relaea tively high tension, it being preferred that thesesprings, when assembled, be under an expansion tension of about 750pounds. The provision of these springs, which serve to afford greatresiliency to the Wheel,renders it unnecessary that a pneumatic tire beemployed, and thus any suitable solid tire may be used. The variety ofsolid tire illustrated is of a well-known form having transvers ely'extendtending rods 32 embedded in its base-portion at which it seats onthe portion 7 of the rim, with wire-retaining rings 33 resting againstthe lateral flanges of the tire 34 and the ends of the rods 32. It willbe noted that by placing all the springs under an equal expansion l iii)tension, weight upon the hub of the wheel i rim to the hub, and a seriesof radially-diswill cause the springs below the hub to be partiallycompressed and thus tend to )lace them in normal condition, whereas thesprings above the hub will be lengthened and placed under greatertension. By this construction, the springs are caused to absorb all ofthe ordinary vibration and shock which occurs in traveling over a roughroad, preventin such vibrations from being communi cated to thevehicle-body, and thus the advantages of pneumatic-tired wheels areefforded.

The feature of pivoting the yokes 14 to the hub enables the latter tohave a slight rotary movement relative to the rim of the wheel, and thusin the starting or stopping of the engine for driving the vehicle towhich the wheels are attached, the great strain upon it, which occurs inthe case where a rigid wheel is employed, is greatly obviated.

The provision of the rim-alining members, of which the bars 27 are apart, serves to maintain the true alinement of the rim on the hub, itbeing understood that these rimalining members are rigid with the hub,and when the hub rotates relative to the rim the outer ends of the barsmove at their ballbearings upon the flange 8 of the rim.

It will be noted that each spring is so constructed as to be journaledat one end and screw upon a shank at the other, and thus each of thesprings 12 may be adjusted inde pendent of the others when adjustment isdesired, the jam-nuts 17 serving to maintain the heads 17 in adjustedposition on the respective shanks.

It is preferred that the heads on the shanks 21 be formed by up-settiugthe ends of these shanks after the have been inserted into the heads 18.

By constructii'ig a wheel in accordance with my invention, any one ofthe springs or bar-members 27 am); be easily andv quickly removed fromits position in the wheel and replaced by another, should impairmentoccur, without disassembling the other parts of the wheel.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A vehicle-wheel comprising, in combination, a hub-portion, a rim, aseries of 1adially-disposed coiled springs connecting the posedrim-alining members secured to the nib, each said member being formed ofa pair of separable companion bars secured together and overlapping therim-portion of the wheel, for the purpose set forth.

2. A vehicle-wheel comprising, in combi nation, a hub, a rim, a seriesof radially-disposed coiled. springs connecting the rim to the hub, aseries of radially-disposed rimalining members secured to the hub andvalternating with the springs, each of said. rimalining members having abifurcated portion at which it attaches to the hub and a recessedend-portion overlapping the rim of the wheel, said rim-aiming memberseach being divided longitudimlly into companion sections, and means forholding the sections together, for the purpose set forth.

3. A vehicle-wheel comprising, in combination, a hub, a rim formed insections, each provided with an inwardly-extending annular flange, saidflai'iges fitting flatwise together, clips provided with bifurcatedportions at which they straddle said flanges, fasteners extendingthrough the bifurcated portions of sa l clips and tl'lI'OUgl'l saidflanges, a series of radiall 'extending rim-alining members providedwith bifurcations at their opposite ends and divided longitudinally intocompanion members, said rim-alining members straddling said flanges attheir outer bifurcated ends and straddling the hub at their inner bifurc.4! ends, and means for releasably holding the sections of therim-alining members in operative position on the hub.

4. A vehicle-wheel comprising, in combination, a hub, a rim, series ofrad'ally-disposed coiled springs connecting the rim to the hub, and aseries of radially-disposed rimalining members secured to the hub, eachsaid member being formed of a pair of'separable companion barsreleasably secured together and overlappin the rim-portion of the wheel,the mutually abutting surfaces of each pair of the said bars of therim-alining members having tongue and groove connection with each other,for the purpose set forth.

.RALrir A. SCIIAEFER, A. U. THORIEN.

